Spartanburg, S.C. – Hannah Alexander capped off a strong start to the season with a career-high 12 strikeouts and Cheyenne Griffin continued to show no freshman jitters as USC Upstate claimed a 6-0 victory over Ohio in the final game of the Upstate Classic softball tournament at Cyrill Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Alexander (Lexington, N.C.) finished off the weekend with three wins, two complete game shutouts and 29 strikeouts in 17.2 innings of work. She was named the tournament Most Valuable Player in leading Upstate as the only unbeaten team in the tournament.

Griffin (Moore, S.C.) had another stellar day in her college debut weekend. After hitting 3-for-3 with five RBIs and her first career home run Saturday, she helped lead the Spartans at the plate with two hits, two RBIs and a run against Ohio on Sunday. Fellow freshman Kendall Settlemyre (Hickory, N.C.) also highlighted the day, connecting on a three-run homer in the sixth inning for her first career home run.

Upstate improved to 3-0 on the year with the win, all behind the arm of Alexander. Ohio fell to 3-1 on the year and pitcher Lauren McClary recorded her first loss of the season, falling to 2-1.

"I thought Ohio was a very high-quality team," said Upstate head coach Chris Hawkins. "Their structure and the way they play the game was really impressive to me. To beat them was a good accomplishment. I knew Hannah was an excellent pitcher, but I had no idea that she would come out to begin the season and dominate in three games the way she did. This might be the most fundamentally sound hitting teams I have coached and it was a pleasure to watch them deliver today in a big-game environment."

Alexander was simply strong throughout the day. Ohio had entered Sunday's contest coming off scoring 37 runs in the first three games of the weekend, including 21 against St. Bonaventure Saturday. Alexander held the Bobcats to two hits while striking out a career-high 12 batters en route to her second shutout of the season.

After three scoreless innings, Upstate broke through against McClary in the fourth inning when Griffin doubled to right center to score Shellie Robinson (DeLand, Fla.) and pinch runner Katelyn Molkenthin (Valrico, Fla.). The damage could have been worse as Upstate had the bases loaded, but a double play and a caught stealing got Ohio out of the inning without any further damage.

Upstate plated four runs in the fourth inning to give Alexander the cushion that she really didn't need after all. Griffin led off the inning with a single and scored on Lindsay Kelly's RBI-double. Settlemyre followed with a three-run shot to give the Spartans a 6-0 lead.

Alexander struck out the side in the seventh inning to punctuate her performance and Upstate's win.

Alexander was joined on the all-tournament team by Upstate's Cheyenne Griffin, Erica Harris, Hayley Reinfeld and Shellie Robinson. Also earning a spot on the all-tournament team were Ohio's Alexis Joseph, Lauren McClary and  Jillian Van Wagnen, St. Bonaventure's Hali Enderby and Detroit's Vanessa Garcia.